Step by step, mile by mile, David "Bugs" Stover walked the unforgiving terrain of the three counties in which the Coalfields Expressway is supposed to be built.

At the end of the walk, projected to be early this week, he will deliver hundreds of individual petitions to Gov. Joe Manchin in Charleston supporting construction of the new highway.

It is a walk of hope in that, once Manchin sees how much people in southern West Virginia, Wyoming and McDowell counties specifically, want and need this highway, it will be made a priority.

It is also a walk of faith in that Stover believes Manchin will listen to the united voices of the people of the three-county area.

The Coalfields Expressway, which will be the first four-lane road for both Wyoming and McDowell counties, is currently not on the state’s six-year highways improvement plan, though construction has begun in both Raleigh and McDowell counties.

"I think he’s a good governor," Stover said prior to beginning the walk Wednesday morning at the McDowell County Courthouse in Welch.

"Gov. Manchin is key to getting this highway on the state’s six-year plan, and I believe he will help us out," Stover emphasized. "If the governor can’t get us on the six-year plan, then he can be key in our search for other funding sources.

"It is imperative that this highway be completed in the next seven or eight years," Stover emphasized.

Stover is no stranger to walking hundreds of miles for a cause in which he believes. In June 1998, Stover began his second nine-day walk from Mullens to Washington D. C. That walk was to protest the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement among countries around the world that some believed would reduce global warming and, in the process, reduce hundreds of coal industry jobs. It was the loss of those jobs that concerned Stover, despite his commitment to the environment. At the age of 42, he walked 300 miles on bloody, blistered feet and came within 87 miles of his destination.

Nearly 20 years prior to that walk, Stover walked to Washington D.C. in support of a bill that would have required power companies to explore the uses of domestic fuels before buying oil from overseas. The bill didn’t pass.

This time, Stover, now 51, did not spend his nights on the road for the 120-mile walk. His walk was planned to end at a designated spot each evening, where he was picked up and went home to sleep in his own bed.
He also had some company along the way during this trek, at least for a small portion of the journey. On Thursday morning, about 30 students from Wyoming County East and Westside high schools joined Stover for a portion of the walk from Pineville to New Richmond.

Early this week, he expects to be joined by political office holders from the three counties as he walks the final blocks to the capitol before meeting with the governor.

Stover is currently the Wyoming County Circuit Clerk — the first Republican to be elected to a county office since 1939.

"I’m not running for office again for at least four-and-a-half more years," Stover noted. "This road is about the future of Wyoming, McDowell and Raleigh counties, and the rest of southern West Virginia. It’s time this part of the state receives its fair share when it comes to road funds."